To the Nations

I am sitting here at Schlotzkys in Midland just thinking about that wonderful pizza I just ate. Sorry Dennis, that I ate pizza again. I promise I eat other things. Promise. That’s going to be one of the things that I miss though.

I was reading this morning through 2 Corinthians and came across this fresh verse.

‘For the love of God controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.’ 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

I have skipped over this verse too many times in my life, but this morning it stuck and resonated. So I read it again and again.

‘For the love of God controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.’ 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

I think that this verse articulates well what God has done in my heart as of late. This is the only response to God changing your heart and showing His great love to you – no longer living for SELF but living for HIM who died and was raised for you. Any other response other than total surrender to living for Him reveals much about the heart’s condition. More or less, Paul is saying that because He lived and died to purchase us, we are compelled to live our lives for Him.

Cool. We’ve heard that. We’ve maybe even thought about what that would look like; LIVING FOR HIM. Some of us would even claim that banner over our lives. Some have never read that and allowed it to sink in. Even worse, some are not yet alive and cannot live for Him.

But this morning, that verse became the banner over my life. Because of what Jesus did and is doing in my life, I have no other choice but to live for Him. His love controls/compels me not to duty, but to obediently following Him wherever He leads me.

So far, He has lead me to Schlotzkys in Midland. But I am beginning to sense a new direction for my life, and it is not Midland, Texas. The thing is though, I don’t know where exactly He is leading me. All I know is that God is moving and I must follow Him. Think about Abraham.

‘By faith Abraham obeyed God when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with Him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. … These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. … But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city. … By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.’ Hebrews 11:8-10,13,16-19

That cat had no clue where God was taking him, but still he trusted God. Talk about faith. But not even Abraham (in the Hall of Faith) could have imagined the plans that God had for him and the things that God would do through him. Abraham knew God and desired to follow Him no matter what, so he acted in faith and did follow him.

Faith is not seeing the future; Abraham surely did not see the future. Faith does not know the outcome. Faith does not make logical sense most of the time. Faith is a trust that God will be faithful to His Word and that He will be with you as you go.

So God is asking me to step out in faith; to live no longer for myself, but for Him who has purchased me with His blood. God is compelling me to go to the Nations with the Gospel.

Honestly, I go from scared to death to absolutely peaceful about it. I’ve worked out the details in my head a thousand times, but it’s a futile attempt, because already God is shifting. The only answer is to stick as close to Him as I can. Here’s some verses that I am clinging to.

‘Commit you way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act. … Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him. ... The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in His way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.’ Psalm 37:5,7,23-24

So, soon I will be headed to be a name-bearer of Jesus Christ. Soon I will be preaching the gospel to the nations. Soon, I will be stepping out in faith to the ends of the earth. Soon.